| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the exclamatory noun ashrei {אַשְׁרֵי | ʾaš-rê} ‘blessed,’ marking a beatitude. It is followed by adam {אָדָם | ʾā-dām} ‘man/person’ as the subject receiving this blessing. The Qal participle shomea {שֹׁמֵעַ | šō-mē-ʿa} ‘listening’ introduces a relative clause, with the infinitive constructs lishkod {לִשְׁקֹד | liš-qō-ḏ} ‘to watch’ and lishmor {לִשְׁמֹר | liš-mōr} ‘to keep guard’ forming parallel purpose clauses. The preposition al {עַל | ʿal} ‘at’ governs the construct noun daltotai {דַּלְתּוֹתַי | dal-tō-tāy} ‘my doors,’ situating the actions. The reduplication yom yom {י֤וֹם י֑וֹם | yōm} ‘day by day’ signals continuous habitual activity. Finally, the construct chain mezuzot petachai {מְזוּזוֹת פְּתָחָי | mə-zū-zōṯ pə-ṯā-ḥāy} links ‘doorposts’ to ‘entrances,’ defining the boundary under watch. In translation, English gerunds and infinitives render the Hebrew participial and infinitival aspects, and ‘daily’ captures the repetition. |